State of the Art

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Posts by elisabettamarabotto

Relic by Damien Hirst lands in Doha

July 7, 2013

Elizabeth Prendiville of SaffronArt announces the newest Damien Hirst exhibition “Relic” in Qatar

New York: Controversial, price-boosting artist Damien Hirst will debut his solo exhibition “Relic” in Qatar this Fall from October 10th– January 22nd. In addition to this being Hirst’s first show in the middle east it will be his largest thus far in his career. “Relic” will be produced by Qatar Museums Authority at the Alriwaq Doha exhibition space and curated by Italian art writer, curator and critic Francesco Bonami.  Prior to taking on this exhibition, Bonami has had a wildly successful career with highlights including his role as the artistic director of the Venice Biennale in 2003.

“Relic” will serve as a retrospective of the last twenty-five years of Hirst’s career. It will debut new and unseen works as well as display signature pieces such as his formaldehyde animals from “Human Nature” and his controversial diamond encrusted skull “For the Love Of God”.  Although Hirst himself is from the UK, these notorious iconographic pieces have contributed to his illustrious career and reputation in the international art scene.

For the Love of God, Damien Hirst, 2007

For the Love of God, Damien Hirst, 2007. Image Credit: http://www.damienhirst.com/for-the-love-of-god

Throughout this past year, Qatar’s art scene has shown a trend of depicting the dialogue between the Middle East art market and the UK market. Hirst’s blockbuster exhibition will serve as a culmination of the “Qatar UK 2013 Year of Culture”.

Hirst has inspired a flux in the high-end art market both in the UK and internationally.  This quality makes his show ideal for Qatar, a country with the highest per capita income in the world. This strong and ever-growing art market makes it the ideal location for Hirst to display his work.

Funding for the exhibition comes from the Sheikha Al-Mayassa who Art + Auction named the most powerful person in the art world in 2011.  The Qatar art market’s environment, similar to the price driven world of Gagosian, will be the ideal setting for Hirst to thrive.

To read more click here.

 

Subodh Gupta: The Imaginary Order of Things

July 6, 2013

Elisabetta Marabotto of Saffronart shares a note on Subodh Gupta’s exhibition at the CAC Malaga

Installation Shot @ Cacmalaga

Installation Shot @ Cacmalaga. Image Credit: http://cacmalaga.org/?p=6818

London: The Centro de Arte Contemporaneo de Malaga, Spain is currently presenting the first solo show of Subodh Gupta in Spain. The exhibition, curated by Fernando Francés, includes three works which have never been shown in an exhibition before.

“The Imaginary Order of Things” focuses especially on the theme of migration in India,  from rural to urban areas. This is expressed through symbolic objects such as a boat which is used to transport families and becomes their temporary home and objects from the past that they have to leave behind during their journey.

Ancestor Cupboard, Subodh Gupta, 2012

Ancestor Cupboard, Subodh Gupta, 2012. Image Credit: http://www.hauserwirth.com/artists/11/subodh-gupta/images-clips/3/?year=2012

Fernando Francés says about the artist: “Subodh Gupta is possibly the most poetic artist in the world. He does not renounce the material, but in fact bases himself on it, taking it to the limits of exaggeration, monumentality and the baroque (Bombaysers de Lille, a homage to the victims of the 2004 tsunami), it succeeds in making emotion – a sentiment as close-at-hand as it is rare – spread into and overturn all the boundaries and walls of thinking and reason. He is a sort of modern Robin Hood who appropriates the Indian drama, re-codifies it, imbues it with an emotional charge and gives it back to us as a gift for the eyes and mind. Nothing is the result of chance in his work. The very process of thought is a ritual or ceremony in which, like a skilled alchemist, he revives memories of childhood and youth, symbols, pots and pans, as if they were objects of desire or cult objects or both at the same time. He gives them patinas that bear messages: the bronzes and golds of the sacred, the steel of industrial progress. The result is a sort of equilibrium between antiquity and the avant-garde, chaos and order, harmony and upheaval, emotion and suspense. Only the skill of a poet can harmonise all these elements in a work of art with the certainty that there are no untruths in his discourse. The power to convince that is characteristic of Gupta’s work is only possible through his essential commitment to his work […].”

Take off your Shoes and Wash your Hands, Subodh Gupta, 2008

Take off your Shoes and Wash your Hands, Subodh Gupta, 2008. Image Credit: http://cacmalaga.org/?p=6792

Read here for more information on the exhibition and you have time until October 13 to see some of Gupta’s new works which are exhibited for the first time in Spain.

Imran Qureshi, Raqib Shaw and Idris Khan among the 50 Most Collectible Artists

July 5, 2013

Shradha Ramesh comments on ART+AUCTION’s 2013 list of The Next Most Collectible Artists Under 50

New York: In continuation of last year’s list of 50 collectible artists by ART+AUCTION, this year, the list focuses on artists under the age of 50.

The selected artists have global backgrounds, and are well known in the international art circle for their solo exhibitions and awards. The list encompasses artists such as Ernesto Neto from Brazil, Raqib Shaw, an Indian artist based in London, and others from Southeast Asia such as Chiharu Shiota and Eko Nugroho.

The shortlisted artists represent a versatile spread of techniques, mediums and styles. When it boiled down to the reason for choosing these artists, according to the editors, “…two reasons for this emerged. First, there is a genuine resurgence of non-representational painting as artists under 50 re-examine that key modernist pursuit. Second, collectors perennially favor painting because it is understandable within an established tradition and is comparably easy to display and conserve.”

According to the article, the other artists to take note of are Imran Qureshi, Ali Kazma, Tala Madani, and Idris Khan.

To read the full ART+AUCTION articles see Part 1 and Part 2.

Companionable Silences at Palais de Tokyo

July 3, 2013

Shradha Ramesh shares a note on the new exhibition, Companionable Silences, at Palais de Tokyo, Paris

New York:  “Companionable Silences” is a group exhibition of artists from various trajectories on view at the Palais de Tokyo, Paris, from June 21 to September 9, 2013.

The connections between these artists are their encounters with the city, Paris, and its ground breaking approach to art – a break away from western archetypes.

According to the curator, the main focus of the exhibit “…is on artworks and artistic lineages that are worthy of study in their own right, with particular attention drawn to the contexts in which the artists’ ideas were formulated and executed.”

Besides the global artist profiles the exhibition representss a visual congregation and interaction between primitivism, modernism and orientalism. An assorted list, the artists are of divergent geographies, ages and genders. The list is dominated by internationally recognized women artists including Tarsila do Amara (1886 – 1973) Brazilian, Saloua Raouda Choucair (b.1916) Lebanese, Camille Henrot (b.1978) French, and Zarina Hashmi (b. 1937), Anjalika Sagar (b. 1968) and Amrita Sher-Gil (1913-1941), Indian. The male artists included in the exhibitions are Adolf Loos (1870 – 1933), Kodwo Eshun (born 1967) and Umrao Singh Sher-Gil (1870-1954).

Self Portrait as Tahitian, Amrita Sher-Gil, 1934. Collection of N. and V. Sundaram

Self Portrait as Tahitian, Amrita Sher-Gil, 1934. Collection of N. and V. Sundaram. Image Credit: http://www.palaisdetokyo.com/en/ressources/biography/companionable-silences

Among the works in the exhibition is a film by Anjalika Sagar and Kodwo Eshun of the Otolith group titled “I See Infinite Distance Between Any Point and Another (2012)” which narrates the life of Etel Adnan -a poet, essayist, and painter, from Lebanon.

On the other hand, works by the Indian artists Zarina Hashmi, Amrita Sher-Gil and Umrao Singh Sher-Gil show their different relations and timeline with their art and Paris.

Among the vagarious arrangement, the most striking is the father daughter duo Umrao Singh and Amrita Sher-Gil. Umrao Singh Sher-Gil’s photographic portraits of his family and himself are of complete contrast to his daughter’s works, which are influenced by Ajanta cave paintings, Paul Cezane and Paul Gaugin. Born in Hungary, Amrita Sher Gil is well known in the Indian art circle for her modern and unconventional thinking. Born to a Hungarian mother and Sikh father, she trained at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris where she became influenced by Realism. Her time in Paris was era of experiment and exploration. She was the first Indian woman to be recognized at international art forums.

This exhibition is definitely a must see if you are in Paris. To learn more about the show, click here.

Nalini Malani: Fukuoka Prize Award Winner 2013

July 2, 2013

Elizabeth Prendiville of Saffronart shares a note about Nalini Malani’s Arts and Culture Fukuoka Prize

Nalini Malani Working at Home, Mumbai, 2013

Nalini Malani Working at Home, Mumbai, 2013. Image Credit: http://fukuoka-prize.org/en/laureate/prize/cul/nalinima.php

New York: Acclaimed Asian artist Nalini Malani was awarded the Fukuoka Arts and Culture Prize 2013. The Fukuoka Prize (Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize) was inaugurated in 1990 with the intent of promoting and understanding the distinctive cultures of Asia and it celebrates those who have made outstanding contributions to academia, arts, and culture in Asia.

Malani is most notably known for her large scale paintings and installations.  Her work focuses on controversial and intricate topics such as religion, gender, war and nature.

Nalini Malani Installing the Retrospective Exhibition, Nalini Malani: Splitting the Other at Musèe Cantonal des Beaux Arts, Lausanne, 2010

Nalini Malani Installing the Retrospective Exhibition, Nalini Malani: Splitting the Other at Musèe Cantonal des Beaux Arts, Lausanne, 2010. Image Credit: http://fukuoka-prize.org/en/laureate/prize/cul/nalinima.php

Born in Pakistan, Malani received her primary art education at the Sir JJ School of Art in Mumbai. She then went on to pursue her artistic studies in Paris with a scholarship awarded from the government of France.  She now works primarily in Mumbai, but her work displays a variety of international inspirations. Additionally, she was the curator of the first all female organized exhibition in India, Through the Looking Glass. Malani is well known both in India and internationally for creating memorable work that takes on controversial topics, even in the most conservative art markets. From this international perspective, she addresses great universal problems that our world faces today.  Her dedication to discuss these issues through her work has opened international opportunities in esteemed institutions such as The New Museum in New York City, the Venice Biennale and the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum in Japan.

Listening to the Shades 7, Nalini Malani, 2008

Listening to the Shades 7, Nalini Malani, 2008. Image Credit: http://www.nalinimalani.com/painting/shades.htm

Although she has chosen very controversial themes for her work, Malani balances these with a classic and historical aesthetic. She utilizes traditional Indian motifs as well as employing a mystical use of color and light in her work.

This internationally influenced and applauded artist is a commendable recipient of the Fukuoka Arts and Culture Prize 2013. On September 14, Malani will give a lecture in Fukuoka titled “For a More Progressive Society-The Potentials in Our World and Arts”.

To learn more about the Fukuoka Prize and Arts and Culture Prize winner Nalini Malani click here.